What I've experienced: the insurance company found three "comparable" used vehicles available from "local" dealers and, using some shiny software package, made adjustments to the value of each. They then offered a value based on the average value of the comps, as adjusted. Miles were worth about $.0...

Don't get spinners. They have the shortest lifespan of any bag design. You're begging to replace it in a year. Thank you for the great input! I disagree with you about spinners, though. I started using spinners in the last year+, and I've fallen in love with them. The extra maneuverability is a sig...

If not, then iMac 21-inch and a Brother printer. This. Buy the cheapest configuration iMac, though I'd consider paying for the (overpriced) SSD upgrade. If you hadn't specified a 17" screen, I would have said to get a MacBook Air (from the current generation, nevermind the new ones being announced ...

... there are risks and costs to mailing that I would prefer to avoid (damage or theft in transit, cost of mailing to and return, shipping insurance costs.) damage: you still have a copy, right? Make another copy and send another disk. theft: if you care, use some form of whole disk crypto. cost: a...

I am thinking about setting up a server for documents, music, photos, and videos. What is the best way to do this inexpensively and what else can you do with a server? For file storage, pay for a cloud service as others have suggested. If you want a server, consider using a virtual server such an A...

Hep A and typhoid are among the most commonly recommended vaccines. I would get both without hesitation. Unlike most vaccines, the typhoid vaccine (the live version, taken orally) is only good for about five years.

At only 1%, I would keep the loan independent of any investment choices. Separately decide whether or not to take your tax gains in 2016 based on tax considerations. Consider another form of Watty's helpful question: "if I could get a new $11k loan at 1%, would I take it?" I can get over 1% return o...

See if you can find a beginners session that focuses on play of the hand, perhaps by playing "mini bridge". Definitely look beyond her bridge club and lessons - you might find a social group on Meetup or a geared-to-students club/class at a local college or university. Some things about playing the ...

Advantage, Dollar, Thrifty, and Fox are all routinely cheaper than the others. You get what you pay for, but most of the time you'll probably be okay. I've had a few issues using these companies before, including getting stranded at the airport because they refused to honor my reservation, so I don...

This is obviously statistically improbable, but what will happen if all three of us are in a plane crash? Statistically, most of you survive. (90% according to this .) Of course, 90% of 3 people is only 2.7. By the numbers, someone's going to be rather incomplete, but it should make for a good arti...

I also got a Hamilton Beach toaster from Costco and have been happy with it. This seems like a perfect use case for letting their buyers do the work. Walk into warehouse, see one model of toaster, buy it, make toast. See "The Paradox of Choice".

Are there any ATM cards or ATM-card-equivalents that have 24/7 support so if they're denied or there's some other problem you're not left high and dry because of a weekend or holiday? There are some good suggestions here, but I think "diversity" is the more important take-away - a 24/7 call center ...

I've taken to scanning and discarding most medical bills. If there's a disputed amount, I may keep the paper, but if the bill is right and I'm paying it, I see no need to keep the paper. And even when I've kept paper copies, I figure I can discard them after 2-3 years. I will, though, keep letters/d...

Right on. I spent a full day writing the reason for my dispute and included all type of documentation. A full day of writing may have worked against you. As I advised back in June , "be concise". Were you able to get any documentation from the replacement lodging showing that the previous place had...

If you do get a Lenovo, make sure you get one of the business-class ones (Thinkpads). I'll say the same thing about Dell. If you get a Dell, get a Latitude. The XPS13/15 are the standout exceptions. I like to buy refurb/used - 2-3 year old machines coming off of corporate leases have lots of life l...

We have a Mitsubishi split system in an addition, AFAIK, ... there is no thermostatic control. You can set a temp, but the system appears to run continuously. Not a bad thing, but not like a system with a thermostat on the wall to control it. Or perhaps I don't understand the whole device. (User ma...

I use the TIAA Real Estate account. Remember that it's only available in retirement accounts (e.g. IRA). Transfers to and from TIAA require paperwork and can take up to a couple of weeks - the variable annuity side of their house doesn't play will with ACATS. Given that, I'd move money in a lump sum...

I am a slice and dicer, having accounts in Vanguard and Fidelity... Since you've accepted the pain of having two accounts, can you stand to leave the funds at Fidelity to drift around and do your rebalancing in the account with zero trading costs, perhaps ending up holding the same funds (or their ...

I think this is something Bogleheads is missing compared to other good forums that have this feature. They have a way to applaud a good post, a way to show that you strongly agree with what a poster says, a way to give support or to promote what someone else said, without having to respond "+1". A ...

patrick's post hit some of the highlights. Pay attention to his point #1 and his suggestion that you may want to avoid this game. If you don't like to fly, a strong cash back card (e.g. the Fidelity card) might be more your speed. The strategy you describe is viable so long as you have flexibility r...

I believe listings expire after 30 days unless renewed. I think it depends on the market. In some places, listings expire in seven days. If you see a listing older than the default ("posted 11 days ago" in a place where the default is seven days), it's a sign that the as has been renewed. I would n...

... the proposed allocations would concentrate risks in only a few asset classes and reduce efficiency throughout the portfolio relative to the current allocation. I'm curious as to which asset classes (he thinks) you are eliminating. But I'd probably decline to engage with him. Move the whole port...

Talked to my IT fella. He said instead of spending $ on new USB drive, I can also just encrypt what I have in windows 10 by enabling Bitlocker. Seems like a nice little trick. You just select the drive in "my computer" and choose ?enable bitlocker" or something of that sort. Only avail in win 10, b...

Costco is my go-to choice. I looks like you already know about AutoSlash. When rates seem high I've used Priceline's name-your-own-price, too, though I don't prefer it. Price out some off-airport rentals (either returning to the off-airport location or to the airport). Sometimes that makes a huge di...

A virtual machine can only be as vetted and monitored as the host OS it runs on. For example, if the host is compromised with a keylogger or man-in-the-middle software, then so is the VM. In a security-minded environment, this is an important distinction. Good job finding the hole in my argument. :...

... for as capable as a personally-owned smartphone is, I just question why people would want to go down this path to begin with. If it's too small of screen, then go buy a cheap laptop for $200, tether it to your cell for Internet access, and do what you need to do ... Assuming you're taking the w...

Killjoy2012, thank you for this perspective as the "evil Mega Corp IT security team". :D Again, we have several ways to know that someone [replaced the hard drive on an employer's machine with their own]. I'm curious as to what those are. With the corporate disk and software removed, how do you see ...

Priceline Express deals are the absolute best deals out there. ... It's also helps that Hobson's Choice makes choosing a hotel imminently easier. It already takes enough time to figure out which area I want to stay in. I more a fan of name-your-own-price, but I agree in principle. (Also, I think "P...

Guess where I am confused is that if they have the recovery key that just unlocks the entire HD, but I didn't think they would have access to anything in my home folder. Sadly, I think they do. FileVault provides whole-disk crypto, not per-user file crypto. If you want, you could conduct an experim...

If I put Veracrypt on my computer, can IT access if they want? You need to assume they can. Assume that they are always running a keystroke logger and could capture your Veracrypt passphrase, any passphrases you type into websites, etc. One thing I have done in years past is to replace the hard dri...

Does the same advice people are giving here apply to Mac? ... My understanding is that one Admin on a mac cannot view another Admin's files due to permissions. The drive is encrypted with FileVault, but my company does have the recovery key so I guess that's an area they may be able to get into the...

PS - the weird thing is that they sent me a text message saying they declined it but did I really intend to make it (yes/no). Of course I said yes but that was after they declined it. What's up with that? I think it's helpful to include the name of the issuing bank in these reports. Then we might f...

I'd double-check the minimum guaranteed rate for NEW money going into TIAA Traditional - I'm shocked that you can still get 3%. If you can, no objections to using it! I am a fan of TREA, but not in livesoft's "set-and-forget" mode - it's the one part of my portfolio where my IPS specifically instruc...

I went in to Discount Tire for their complimentary pressure check, and they told me my spare was outdated. They refused to check the pressure and said they would not handle it due to the risk of it exploding. I replaced it. Did they insist you buy a new wheel, too, so they could avoid dismounting t...

There must be some other StarAlliance partners there, but I'm not sure which one. And of course, United award flights are not necessarily available through all partners. As above, try Singapore's KrisFlyer. Star alliance partners including Singapore should be able to see and book any UA "saver" awa...

In addition to Eva Air, mentioned above, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is another Star Alliance member and Citi transfer partner. They have some interesting rules (e.g. miles expiring three years from when credited), but their award chart has some charms - 40k domestic F tickets and cheaper Hawaii ti...

One more question... with a single fund approach, I am not seeing any reason not to have proceeds directly re-invested into the fund. They won't be re-balancing, tax loss harvesting, etc... am I missing anything? If markets were to go south, they might benefit from tax loss harvesting. I would not ...

.. I like my big desktop screen for more involved work. If it's running Windows and the kids are using it, don't put your data there. It's easy enough to keep the kids and the data separate, but the kids will be malware magnets. Keeping kids and data separate: the solutions posted here are good. I ...

$0, but it would have to be one that offered an impressive spending rebate or some other charm. If I did not already have a good 2%-across-the-board cash rebate card, I'd take one that did not come with any signup bonus. Signup bonuses are all well and good, but if a card can bring value in some oth...

... years back we bought one for mom and dad that plugged into the wall and stayed charged. It was nice, didn't need batteries. They don't sell items like that anymore. Anyone have any idea why? haven't seen them anywhere in the Twin Cities for years. I'm seeing plug-into-the-wall options from Peli...

Which is the best flashlight you guys recommend to keep in home for emergency? I am looking for something which is chargeable easily. For a rechargeable, I recommend a Convoy S2+ using your choice of 18650 lithium battery . These flashlights are available in a variety of brightnesses (and power dra...

If you want to see a show at night, Cirque du Soleil's Mystere is kid friendly. Our kids loved it. Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Fountains at Bellagio. These three things crossed my mind, too. The aquarium is grossly overpriced, especially for how small it is, but it was very pleasant. Some ...

My only problem with all of the Schwab index funds and ETF's is they follow a significantly smaller number of companies. Which is a concern for me. (emphasis added) You're sounding inconsistent. You told us your "only" problem with Schwab's funds was coverage. And yet now you're focusing on fees. R...

FYI, 401k transactions will typically be in fractional shares. You'll set some percentages and it will be on auto-pilot. At your asset level, I would not try to slice and dice into so many funds. In a 28% tax bracket, I would also consider skipping the Roth in favor of the 401k. Take the tax break n...

Are there certain funds that incur a penalty or anything if the need to cash out occurs? Is there a better type of fund for this type of savings? Separate the rules and penalties of the account from the rules and penalties of the fund . Account rules are mostly about tax treatment (and brokerage fe...

... I noticed that they charge a 0.30% fee acount maintenance fee each quarterly. I'm furious thqt that charge that much. I've been trying to maximize my 401k. Is it even worth it? ... Should I just invest in a taxable account? Double-check the fee: you'll likely find that it is .3%/year, charged q...